Circumcision of the heart – Metropolitan Nahum of Strumica
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“At that time the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told to them.
After eight days were fulfilled the time came for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.”
In order to make it easier to understand the event of the circumcision of the God-Man Christ (Luke 2: 20–21; 40), we need to remind ourselves of two things.
First; the words of Christ:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one iota will by no means pass from the law. Till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5: 17-18).
And secondly:
Everything the God-Man in the God’s Dispensation has done is for us and for our salvation, not for Himself: and he gave it as a gift to us through the Church.
Reading today’s Gospel, I recall the prayer we pronounce at the end of the Divine Liturgy, before the Holy Chalice on the altar:
“Christ, our God, being Yourself the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets; You have fulfilled the entire redemptive (salvific) Dispensation of the Father, fill our hearts with joy and gladness, always, now and forever, and to the ages of ages. Amen “.
If we carefully look at this prayer, we will recognise the historical periods of the Old and the New Testaments as well as the infinite period of the Kingdom of Heaven, which already is, but is not yet. With the language of the Orthodox theology these periods are also called: ‘Shadow’, ‘Icon’ and ‘Truth’.
As for our personal (and catholic) spiritual life, these periods correspond to the three levels of the spiritual development: purification of the heart from the passions, enlightenment of the mind and deification of the whole person, both the soul and the body.
Precisely because of the connection of today’s gospel, and specifically the connection of circumcision with these three levels, I would like to make the meaning clear of circumcision in the New Testament so that you understand.
We need to determine what level of spiritual development or decline we are at, so that we can generally harmonise our way of life with the appropriate level and thus enable true spiritual development – which should be our daily and all-day task or endeavour.
If we want to see what kind of life we live, i.e. whether we live according to the Old or the New Testament, we only need to check which criteria we fulfil.
Here is what the Old Testament says:
“If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbour, as he has done, so shall it be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. (Lev. 24: 19-21).
Given that today we are witnessing an excessive return of evil for evil, in one of my previous addresses I wrote that it would be very good if today’s people would at least fulfil the measures of the Old Testament in this regard.
And here is what the New Testament says:
“But I tell you not to resist evil. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:39) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. (Matthew 5: 43-44).
With a little honesty we will easily come to the answer as to which criteria we meet.
For the one who does not want to – not that he cannot – be honest and self-critical towards himself, the words of the First-Holy-Martyr Stephen apply: “You stubborn and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You have always resisted the Holy Spirit – as your fathers did, so do you ” (Acts 7:51).
Explained further by the Holy Apostle Paul, these words mean:
“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Rom. 2: 28-29).
Certainly, there is an even clearer criterion to determine the spiritual stage we are at, which we know from the Holy Fathers, and that is the quality of prayer.
At the first stage of spiritual development, prayer can only be said orally and in the mind, at the second stage prayer can be ascetic prayer of the mind in the heart, and, at the third stage prayer is ceaseless or graceful prayer of the mind in the heart.
The natural way of life consists of: manifestation of the grace of Baptism from an open heart, mind (attracted by the manifested grace of God) descended prayerfully into the heart – in a struggle of weeping and repentance, i.e. “change of mind”, in a process of constant enlightenment and transfiguration; the way Adam was created, the way we should be born from above after preparing for Baptism in a sincere and earnest manner, or the way we should reach it, under proper spiritual guidance, in monasticism, i.e. becoming a monk.
The natural way of life is exactly that inner circumcision of the heart – by the Spirit, which we are taught and to which we are called by the Holy Apostle Paul. Physical circumcision has been overcome, and our personal Holy Baptism itself will be for our condemnation if we remain only on it, if we do not activate the uncreated grace of Baptism within our heart, through the Orthodox spiritual life.
The mind that has fallen away from the general struggle of obedience to God, as well as from the concrete struggle of obedience to God – through the spiritual father, has also fallen away from the process of healing. Such a mind cannot progress in the concrete healing process of humility, concentration in prayer and enlightenment of its energy, and together with it (the mind) are not healed the other mental (soulful) and physical forces – which the mind should actually control (lead) in the direction of healing.
If instead of healing the passions we only feed or nourish them by satisfying them, especially the passion of pride, then it cannot be said that we are engaged in the process of purification of the heart from the passions in obedience, nor can it be that we are on the first stage of spiritual growth, neither can we say that we live a natural way of life.
That is why the Holy Fathers, in addition to determining the classification of the stages of spiritual growth as: purification, enlightenment and deification, they also classified them as: unnatural, natural and supernatural way of life. In this distinction, the natural way of life encompasses the stage of purification of the heart from passions and the stage of enlightenment of the mind.
The unnatural way of life, of a person who presents himself as a believer, contains three tormented states of the soul, which, modern psychology and Christian psychotherapy grade and label, from less severe to the most severe, as: religious neurosis, religious personality disorder (psychopathy and sociopathy ) and religious psychosis, i.e. demonization.
– Religious neurosis occurs to one who does not control his thoughts and feelings.
– Religious disorder of the persona occurs to one who does not control his words and deeds – such one is also characterised by great insensitivity; and most often exposes himself on social networks.
– Whilst demonization occurs to the one who, consciously or unconsciously – think that he is doing God’s work, he actually fulfils the demonic will, such a person is also characterised by extreme insensitivity.
“ And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2:40).
At the age of thirty – according to the Law – Jesus began His public mission and preaching, and He showed us all what exactly it means to harmonise the way of life and our asceticism (struggle) with the stage of spiritual development we are at, but it is also very important, if not most important , with the official place and role we have in Church and society and what exactly is meant by circumcision that is in the heart, by the Spirit.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!
Metropolitan Nahum of Strumica
(13.01.2022 16:34)
